New ways to live

Jason shrugs, as he takes a seat, "Wow, you mean people in this era still talk about their ancestors?" He asks genuinely intrigued. "Honestly, when I bought the Inn she wasn't overly found of me...took her awhile to warm up to me, then we kinda had...have our hands full. My first year here I came into blows with a....half-demon Blaze, then ran into an old enemy and crime boss barely escaping with my life. Kat found me sneaking back into my room, discovered my identity, and helped treat my wounds. Later....Well I read the stories, you know the kind of trouble this place attracts. Only in my time, I'm the one footing the bill for the damages. But recently Kat had begun asking I make her a suit, similar to mine..." He explains, unable to stop himself from smiling. He hated to admit it, of all the crazy shit he's been through, seen, fought, this was an interesting change.

In his head he finds himself replaying the Back to the Future and Terminator movies.Then spotting Anna's disbelief, and rather preferring not to fight off God knows who if they tried to have committed, he thinks for a moment, and reaches into one of his protective pouches, producing a cell phone. Clicks through it a few menus and presses play one one of the songs he had downloaded onto his phone. While hoping he doesn't cause any irreparable harm to the timeline. But presses play as the 4 non blonds begins to play the song "What's up," And tosses it to Anna.

Catching the phone Anna instantly regrets it as her ribs protest. Not sure what to make of all this her brain settles on the one nagging question that doesn't require a massive level of belief in the what should be impossible.

"How in the hell did you buy the inn? The deed is pretty damn strict as it pertains to this place... Though I suppose that would give Blaze cause to go a bit on the offense..." she muses, followed by a muttered, "yup. I need to drink more."

The music reminds her of the other dead body and she winces as she cranes her head around to confirm that the other dead body in the room is the harpist. "Shroud; Do you want to tell Allyister he should have taken Edin with him or is that something I'm stuck with? Sparky can eat her too."

Jason shrugs, "A lot of things went wrong....or the future isn't all it's cracked up to be. The Inn was bleeding money, your great, great granddaughter Kat was struggling to pay the Inn's debt. The bank was about to foreclosed on the Inn, I heard about it, and came in, bought the Inn. It was either me or the Banks." He shrugs, and begins pulling off his armored chest piece.

"I know Kodo was financing the Inn before his suto death...he's okay now...Long story. Also your great, grandson wasn't terribly smart when it came to finances." He explains standing up and walking over to Anna, tapping through a few more screens as she holds it. Pulling up humorous selfie of him and Kat hanging out.

"This here is Kat," I figured you may like to see her...And she'll probably want to meet you...Before I find my way back I suppose I'll help you send her a message."

ShroudLooking at the bodies, "I'll inform him. And place the bodies outside for....Sparky...They'll be in the garden, best keep it closed to the public until...the bodies are gone." He says walking over to Eden, picking up her body and teleporting over to the dark Elf, that he also picks up on the other shoulder.

"Someone should mop up what' left of Envy." He sighs, vanishing from sight as he teleports again. Barely showing more than a passing interest in the time traveler.

The girl Emily slowly rises from her booth to finish tending to Cole. "If you're really a time...traveler, should you really be telling us so much, would't anything you do affect your future?" She says skeptically, "And does your being here from the future mean we actually survive all these attack on the Inn and the monsters nearby?"

“Well that really depends on which theory of time travel that may be in play. For example, my being here probably already happened and was most likely always meant to happen, so anything I do, would be something I was always meant to, meaning nothing I could do would affect or change the timeline. Or depending on which law of time travel is actually true, because in that case my very being here would have varying effects on the time stream depending on my every action, but I can’t very well stop affecting anything, because there’s no way of telling how many butterflies I would affect by tampering with the time line. On the other hand, some believe that time is already set, there’s changing it and events will always unfold as they’re meant to. While others contest that only small things can be altered in a time stream while other events can’t be, for example, if I go back and kill Hit-….He trails off thinking about world history and corrects, “Christopher Columbus, or try to, time will push back and fight me every step of the way. If I somehow managed to beat time and succeed, someone else would discover America, but their name may be different, or someone would just claim to be Christopher Columbus and assume his identity, then go on to discover America, with the only change being the discovery of America being a day or two off. Others believe that affecting the timeline in any way will create another timeline altogether, or alternate reality.”

Ignoring Jason's theological musings she decides caution may be the best idea. "Emily is right. There are some things we are better not knowing." Though the inn's financial future does raise some concern. She makes a mental note to see what could be done to alleviate that little issue while not creating a butterfly effect.

Anna glances at the image of the happy looking pair before quickly looking away. Having that bit of proof that the inn doesn't get destoyed or overrun by those currently trying to take it over is almost worse then not knowing what the future holds. Before there was just the task to survive. Now they have the concern of not fucking things up.

Wanting the remains of the clone out of her inn just as much as Shroud, the innkeeper carefully pulls herself to her feet, using the less than thrilling task as a means of getting a bit of space to rein in the array of emotions this entire event has brought on.

Taking the phone and tucking it away he turns to Cole and Emily, while glancing back at Anna. "I don't know...we could probably help each other. A lot of the Inn's records was lost...And my old...nemesis, a man by the name of Mr. Death, kingpin and murderer...I only actually fought him him once, but he bested me. Anyway he was being helped by someone we believed attacked the Inn before."

Silently Anna agrees with Cole as she grabs a mop & bucket and starts cleaning up the mess that was Lloyd.

"I wouldn't say no to help... If you want a history lesson though you may need to wait for Slick to pop back into existence. He loves to hear himself talk." A hint of bitterness seeps into her tone. A few hours aren't enough to dull Anna's ire with him.

"The list of beings that enjoy attacking the inn is a long one. Do you have a name?"

"Yeah...half of one, it was right after the old bald bastard pointed a broom at me and said "Cannonball," second later an actual cannonball was slamming into my chest knocking me out of 40 story window, I heard Mr. death say the word Mal. That's all I managed to get, because I was trying to keep myself from blacking out as I fell 23 stories, before I managed to engage my wings, which ended with me crashing through the window of my room here." He sighs, shaking his head. "I fucking hate magic.." He adds.

As Jason talks her mopping slows, putting the pieces together to form the full name. "As far as I am aware, Mal is dead and has been since long before I was born." Not wanting to draw any further bad luck her way, Anna is reluctant to say Malfiest's name out loud.

Putting the cleaning products aside she grabs a bottle of whiskey from the bar and takes a swig. "If they are the same being I'm not the one you want to talk to. Talk to Shard. Once he has had a chance to rest his injuries for a little bit anyway... Assuming he's being good and doing what he's supposed to and resting..."

His dislike for magic is interesting but unfortunate. Anna can appreciate the sentiment being a non magic user herself (excluding the newly squared healing spell of course). Here it is a necessary resources for survival so hopefully he won't grumble too much.

Stepping towards Anna at her revelation. "This is great...it may give us the just edge we need. Blaze wasn't too forthcoming, kept saying the same as you, but with more expletives, followed by telling us how impossible it was...He kinda gave me the impression that he didn't believe me...So who's Shard?"

She takes Blaze's future reaction as a good thing. It seems logical that Malfiest won't be making a reappearance during her lifetime if the man isn't known for miraculously surviving death.

"Shard is the one who inadvertently pulled you here. He's the only one in this country currently with first hand experience who's brain I trust you to pick. Shard also will not take advantage of the information you are capable of providing... Or at least he wouldn't use it against the inn."

"Oh..." he says, recalling battered state the man she was referring to. "I suppose then, I'll also be stuck here awhile." He sighs, "Just as long as he can send me back roughly around the time he plucked me from my present..."

"I wonder if he has any relation to Kodo from my time.." He says absentmindedly. Then looking glancing around the tap room. "Well until my new best friend recovers, I suppose I'll be staying here awhile and I suppose my suite won' be available for another 90 years or so, and I doubt any of the doors take card keys.."But regardless, I think I'll be needing a room...And probably some walking around clothes..." He trails off, looking expectantly at Anna. "I...I can't pay you...my money won't be valid for a couple of decades at the very least. But I can give your great, great, great granddaughter a raise."

It's no wonder the inn goes into a downward spiral financially. The number of I paying residents outnumbers those that can afford it. Though she can't really hold it against Jason or Cole; they do have valid excuses.

Pulling open a drawer in the bar Anna rummages for a key with the room number attached and hands it to him. "I'll see what I can find for you. I need to go shopping anyway. just pitch in on the whole preventing our deaths thing and I'm willing to call it even."

"A word of advice. Avoid the subject of Kodo around Shard. I'd like to enjoy some peace and quiet as long as possible."

Taking the key, he nods his thanks. "Thank you, and I'm an engineer, and electrician..if there's anything I can do to earn my keep, I'm also pretty good at metal working, so if it hasn't been destroyed yet, I can work in the forge." Jason offers, taking a look around the Inn, and muttering, "I guess I could possibly make horseshoes or something..." Raising an eyebrow at her comment, "Ah...And I suppose I'll have to get around to meeting everyone else, and you mentioned preventing deaths...what kind of catastrophe is preying on the Inn now...." He trails off, before correcting, "Um..this time....now...I guess."

Leaning back against the bar she gives him a tired look. "The short list is one or two of the horsemen and a few of the creature's offshoots. The long list is anyone working for said horsemen. Primarily Famine. If I had to say who my main concern right now is, it'd be a shapeshifter named Lloyd." She motions to the spot the now cleaned clone puddle was.

The forge tucked behind the stable is an area Anna has never given much thought to as it's easier just to buy most items. But perhaps Jason could create something a little more difficult to aquire. Stooping down Anna picks up the small pile of bullets she had discarded during her scuffle, holding them in her palm. "How are you with silver?"

Jason smiles. "I've dealt with werewolves, vampires and shapeshifters before. Which is why I never go out with a few of these." He says reaching to his belt and pulling out two large, boomerang Shurikens. (small enough to be thrown but large enough to hold in one's hand as a bladed weapon) Which he lays on the bar. "I try to keep at least four with me at all times. Never know what kind of night I'm going to have." He says smiling, and adding, "Insomnia, a crime fighters best weapon."

"So creatures of a more supernatural nature are more common in your time?" It's a question that goes against her earlier caution regarding potentially tampering future events. However if it is a result of Allyister's plan coming to fruition and things aren't any worse, or potentially better, then they are now it would go a long way of easing a bit of her anxiety in that area.

He hesitates, "Ehh. um.. Yes and no. I mean the world has changed a lot.. the world has become more accepting, but there's still a lot of doubt. There was and incident a several years ago in my time, in the states...Kentucky, involving a teenager Joshua Corbin. Werewolf, bitten, and some say saved the world...with help." He says with a nod, "Still general consensus was the incident was a hoax of some kind. but a few short years later, there a similar one this time in a city Aurora, Texas, this one was more public...there was a lot of deaths. The town of course tried covering it up, the boy Kyle along with most of his friends disappeared. But it wasn't long until the word began to spread. A few years later, I made this suit, and the world has become....stranger. We have super humans, people with powers and then people began to find out and learn about the Meltra, then we had aliens, and although half the world may believe or know there are more things out there in the world, the other half, remain skeptical."

Leaning back in his chair, he gives vent to a small shrug. "Believe it or not, a lot of people are blaming the Midnight Hawk for all of it...They call it the law of averages..." He admits shaking his head, before mumbling, "You don't hear anyone blaming Alexander and his Last Call Detective agency."

It's not the clear cut answer she was looking for; but of course that would make things easy for her so complicated should have been what Anna was expecting. "Aliens? ... Never mind. I don't want to know." That people are still mixed on what does and doesn't exist would lead her to assume that. The veil preventing more exotic beings from overwhelming the world does not collapse. Perhaps a rip in the barrier between plains or realms is created... Whatever happens it's not an immediate concern.

Anna raises an eyebrow at his exhaspiration. "Running around in an easily identifiable disguise and a code name does tend to leave the door open to a certain amount of scrutiny- even if the intentions are good. It's easier to accept someone at face value then it is to just go along with someone in a mask. What else is the person who doesn't want to be identified hiding? And is it really just one person? I'd go on but to be honest it's been a long morning and I'm not up for a decision on psychology."

He smiles at her comment, "We'll you're not entirely wrong, I have a partner who dresses in the same suit, but insist of using different kind of weaponry. I find it's best to fool criminals into thinking the midnight hawk is immortal. Plus whenever I or my my partner gets hurt, the other can easily suit up and go out on patrol. Besides, I have a company to run, it'll be impossible to do the whole business man by day, super hero by night shtick for too long. And the mask helps hide my identity. I can't be on my guard every minute of every day, and I still have those I care about, who my enemies would take advantage of. Then there's the newer model of guns." He says motioning to the bullets he had seen her pick up earlier. "I'm talking high power rifles that shoot the beak off a crow from 28,000 yards."

Glancing up at the two, he tries to discern what on earth either of them are talking about, "I miss my world..It was simple, things my you relied only in the power of one's fist, or steel..." Then spotting Emily looking at him confused. He adds, "And that's how I feel when I listen to those two."